A Cyclonian Cupid
by Crimson Fox4
Summary: When Master Cyclonis sends Ravess on a special mission with a couple of modified crystal arrows, what will happen to the Storm Hawks? How will they be able to combat their invisible intruder? Will they find out Ravess' plan in time? Read to find out! AxP
1. Chapter 1

**Well, I had a plot bunny attack the other day, and this is what has become of it. I hope you enjoy this Valentine's Day special, as it shall be multi-chaptered! :D And yes! I'll try and get this done in a more timely manner than my Christmas story x3**

**This chapter is in Master Cyclonis' POV.**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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A Cyclonian Cupid

_Chapter 1_

'_There's only a week until Valentine's Day.' _I thought to myself, refusing the urge to gag as I sat down on my throne. _'Such a dumb day to celebrate __**love**__ of all things! But I suppose it will aid in the success of my newest plan to rid myself of those meddling Storm Hawks, if even for only a couple of weeks, it'll still be worth it.'_

Examining the two, small pink-purple crystals in my hand, I realized with disgust that the crystals I had created earlier in the day had ended up forming almost heart shapes. _'Well, maybe they'll make better arrowheads this way.' _

As the thought left my head, I looked up at the sound of the large double doors to my throne room being opened. Ravess entered the room, and the doors slowly closed behind her.

Walking up to me, she bowed her head quickly before she asked, "Master Cyclonis, you sent for me?"

Standing up, I told her, "I have a special assignment for you, as you are the only one of my commanders than can carry out this particular plan, to perfection that is."

Ravess looked up at me with a slight gleam in her eye as she said, "How may I be of service to you Master Cyclonis?"

"Hand me two of your arrows Ravess." I commanded. Ravess blinked a few times, slightly confused before she pulled a couple of her arrows out of her quiver.

As I took them from Ravess' outstretched hand, I told her, "I have a very particular assignment for you Ravess, and as I said before it must be executed to perfection, no unfortunate mistakes that have been happening quite often lately, do you understand?"

Receiving a solemn nod from Ravess in reply, I said, "Good." I could feel the Cyclonian Commander before me staring at me with confusion as I carefully took the small aerodynamically designed firebolt crystal out of each of the two arrows.

Ravess began to object at what I was doing until I raised my hand, indicating she needed to be quiet. As she became silent once more, I showed her the small crystals I had created earlier.

"These two crystals are to be the key to success for this particular mission." I informed Ravess as I carefully inserted one heart shaped crystal into each of the two arrow shafts. _'Perfect, they fit, just as I planned, and you know what? I think they will make quite effective arrowheads. It seems that for now everything is going as planned.' _I thought to myself as I handed the two arrows back to Ravess.

"I want you to take the utmost care when handling these particular arrows Ravess as you _must_ use _these_ two arrows to hit your two targets."

Ravess nodded her head as she held the two arrows in her hand, admiring the colour and shape of the crystals that were acting as the arrowheads. Looking up at me, Ravess questioned, "If I may be so bold as to ask Master, who are my targets and what will the effects of these crystals be on them?"

Smirking, I replied, "You are more than likely aware about what a horrendous waste of a day is coming up?"

"It's Valentine's Day, is it not Master? The day that Atmosians seem to like so much?"

"Yes, and I've decided to take full advantage of their little 'special' day which celebrates 'love'." Checking to see if Ravess was following, I continued, "I created those two crystals so that if a boy and girl are hit with them at about the same time within a close proximity, they can't help but fall in love within a week."

Glancing down at the crystals embedded in the tips of her arrows, the pink-haired woman commented, "That sounds like a torturous enough situation for us, but unless you're asking me to shoot a couple of Cyclonians with them, you'd almost think that whoever else your targets may be won't think of it being such a burden."

"Perhaps," I began, "But you see, I'm not having you shoot just _any_ boy and girl, I'm having you shoot a couple of Storm Hawks."

Ravess seemed almost surprised at my announcement before she stuttered, "B-but Master, all of the Storm Hawks are merely children, surely they must not know what love is?"

Smirking, I decided to reveal the entirety of my plan to the commander standing in front of me.

"That's the point Ravess, they won't be able to make sense of their feelings, they won't know what to do with themselves, and they won't be able to escape the feelings for at least two weeks. If we hit two key members of the Storm Hawks and have their minds elsewhere for a couple of weeks, the rest of their squadron won't be able to operate without them completely focused. Not to mention they'll be too concerned about their friends' behaviour to bother tracking our movements."

Ravess mouth twisted into an evil grin as she replied, "Of course! We'll have two weeks of freedom to attack whichever terras we please."

"Exactly." I stated before I commanded, "Make sure you hit Piper with one as she is the only girl amongst the Storm Hawks, and I also want you to hit their Sky Knight, Aerrow. A squadron without a focused Sky Knight is hardly operable."

Ravess nodded before she asked, "How will I get close enough to shoot them without being detected? And if I do shoot them, won't their friends find them, I mean, an arrow shaft sticking out of their friends would be quite noticeable."

Smiling in amusement at Ravess' attention to details I had already considered, I told her, "You will simply have to wait until the Sky Knight and his navigator are alone. And as far as someone finding any part of the arrow to point towards Cyclonia, I have rigged these crystals so that once they hit their targets, the crystal itself deteriorates into their blood stream, thus the shaft should just fall to the floor after this occurs. Plus, I found a way to add a small sedative into the crystals' makeup so that once an individual is hit they will fall unconscious for about an hour. This should be enough time for you to retrieve the arrow shafts, no?"

Bowing once more, Ravess replied, "Of course Master Cyclonis, I will not fail you this time."

"You are dismissed." I informed Ravess who nodded, and with yet another bow she began to make her way out of the throne room.

Before Ravess had fully walked out the doors however, I called, "And Ravess," Seeing that the Talon Commander had turned around to face me, I ordered her, "You leave immediately, and make sure to take a few invisi crystals, you never know how long you'll have to wait until the two are alone."

Nodding, Ravess replied, "Of course Master Cyclonis, do you have anymore orders?"

"No, just one final order," Pausing for a moment, I hissed, "_No mistakes!_"

As Ravess left the room, I walked back to my throne and sat down before I thought to myself triumphantly, _'The Storm Hawks will never know what hit them!'_

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Well, I'm hoping to post one or two chapters a day depending on my typing schedule, so if I miss an update, don't get too mad at me!

**I hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter, and don't worry, more is coming your way soon! ;)**

**Crimson Fox4**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! This chapter is going to be in Ravess' Point of View, but it won't have any romance yet... sorry, but we'll get there soon! For now, enjoy a sprinkle of humour.... at least I _hope_** **I made this chapter slightly humorous....**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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_Chapter 2_

Within an hour or so after Master Cyclonis gave me my assignment, I was walking towards large hangar where The Dark Ace's, Snipe's, and my skimmer were all kept.

Once I got there, I took a moment to pause and admire my beautiful skimmer before I mounted it. After checking for the fifth time I had everything I would need for my mission, I was about to take off when I heard my incompetent brother come up behind me and whine, "But why can't I come Ravess?"

Sighing, I told my brother for what felt like the fifty-fourth time, "Snipe, Master Cyclonis personally gave me this mission, and she needed it completed to perfection."

Receiving a blank stare in response, I tried a new tactic to get my brother to leave me alone. "How about this Snipe, once I'm done with my mission, I'll make sure to come back with a club sandwich for you, how's that?"

Snipe's confused face immediately changed into one of anticipation. "Really?" He asked, his eyes growing slightly larger, and drool starting to drip from his open mouth.

"Really." I replied as sincerely as could as I gunned my skimmer's engine and shot off into the red skies of Cyclonia, eager to get away from my blundering brother, and instead begin my mission.

After flying for a few minutes, I was beginning to relax and enjoy the ride a little when my radio's speaker cracked with static before a Talon's voice asked, "Commander Ravess?"

"Yes?" I hissed into the mouthpiece, wondering why in the Atmos a Talon was trying to radio me. Surely they knew I was on official business for Master Cyclonis.

"Snipe wishes to speak to you."

Sighing, I replied, "Fine."

After a moment or two, I heard Snipe's voice say over the radio, "What type of sandwich did you say you were going to get for me again?"

"A club sandwich Snipe." I said through clenched teeth.

"Oh." Snipe said before adding, "Make sure you put extra mustard on it!"

Shaking my head in dismay, I talked quickly into the receiver, "Okay Snipe, I'll remember, but now I need radio silence, alright?"

There was indeed silence coming from my radio for a few seconds before I heard static once more as Snipe asked, "What does radio silence mean again?"

Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath in order to try and calm myself, I told him, "It means you don't talk to me Snipe. It also means that if you _do_ talk to me again, I turn off my radio. Got it?"

"Yes Ravess." I heard my brother mumble, but I just smiled to myself.

"Guess what Snipe, you just talked! I'm turning off my radio now!" With a satisfying click, I did exactly that. _'No more of Snipe's incompetence!' _I thought to myself with delight as I left Cyclonian airspace and headed out into the skies of Atmos, thankful for the darkness of night as I set about trying to find the Storm Hawk's airship – the infamous _Condor_.

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**Well, what do you guys think so far?**

**And just to let you know, it may be a chapter or two until the actual 'romantic' part, but we'll get there none the less! I have up to chapter four written, but I'm only going to post one or two chapters a day depending on how much typing I get done, so please be patient with me! Stay tuned for chapter three tomorrow! It'll be told in Aerrow's POV I believe ;)**

**_Crimson Fox4_**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again! First, I'd just like to say Happy Valentine's Day to everyone, and I'd also like to say I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's in Aerrow's Point of View.**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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Chapter 3

Moaning as I woke up to the sound of a skimmer's engine in the hangar bay, I told myself I was going to kill whichever squad-mate of mine was up at 4:30 in the morning. I rolled over in my bed and was about to go back to sleep as the sound of the engine slowly went away, but my eyes flew open and I did a double take as I sat up in bed and stared at the time on my clock.

'_4:30 in the morning?' _I thought to myself. _'Not even Stork or Piper are ever up this early, so why would someone be in the hangar bay?' _Now fully awake due to the possibility that my team was in danger from an intruder, I jumped out of bed and grabbed my two energy blades and walked cautiously out into the hallway before I turned and headed towards the hangar bay.

As I made my way quietly towards the hangar, I was beginning to wonder why an intruder would infiltrate the ship through the main hangar bay of all places. There would be nowhere to hide their skimmer out of sight; it was just too open of a place besides the odd pile of crates here and there, but those were easy enough to simply look behind.

Pausing outside of the door that led from the corridor into the hangar, I listened through the door for any movement, but I didn't hear anything out of the usual. Gripping a blade in each hand, I stepped through the door in the hangar bay only to be met with darkness.

The hangar bay door was closed, so how could anyone have gotten inside? Puzzled, I activated my energy blades which caused the hangar bay to be bathed in a soft, light blue colour. I glanced about quickly and saw that nothing was out of place – everything was in the same spot where we had left it after our last mission.

Deactivating the blue striker crystal in each of my weapons, I slowly backed out of the hangar, but I didn't go back to my room right away. I paused to the side of the doorway to listen for any strange sounds again to make sure no one was in there for sure.

I stood outside of the door for about ten minutes and didn't hear anything, so I walked back to my room and slipped inside quietly. Knowing that Radarr would be able to sleep whether I turned the light on or not, I quickly flipped the light switch on, and was surprised when I turned around and saw that Piper was on my bed – asleep.

'_Why is Piper in my room, and asleep on my bed no less?' _I thought to myself as I approached Piper slowly. Looking down at the foot of my bed, I saw that Radarr was still asleep like a log, and then with a sigh, I looked back at Piper who seemed to be sleeping quite peacefully, and I couldn't help but notice how cute she seemed to be when she was asleep....

'_Wait! What are you thinking Aerrow? She's your team-mate for goodness sakes! You shouldn't think she's cute!'_ I reprimanded myself silently, but I couldn't help but blush as the realization hit me that I hadn't noticed until now that Piper had only been getting prettier over the past five years since she first joined the Storm Hawks.

'_Wow, how blind am I?'_ I thought to myself before another surprisingly though hit me. _'She's nineteen now, what if some guy shows up a few years from now and wants to take her away? Our squadron would be without a navigator, and I'd be down a good friend.' _Shaking away the foreign thoughts, I figured I must only be thinking up these weird things because I wasn't used to being up this early.

After having reassured myself that I wasn't going crazy yet, I thought to myself, _'I hate to wake Piper up, but she really ought to be sleeping in her own room. Why is she in my room anyways?'_ Leaning down, I shook Piper's shoulder as I whispered, "Piper, hey Piper? Come on, wake up!"

Pausing for a moment, I thought that I'd have to try and wake her up again, but that's when she moaned quietly and her body shifted slightly before her eyes blinked open blearily.

Looking down at Piper with the grin on my face growing, I said, "Morning Piper."

Sitting up with her feet dangling over the side of my bed, Piper began to rub the sleep out of her eyes as she mumbled in reply, "Morning."

Seeing that she was beginning to take in her surroundings, I asked my navigator, "Piper, do you know why you're in my room?"

A light seemed to go on in her head, and I could've sworn her face turned a slightly darker shade as she stood up and said, "Sorry, I came in here earlier looking for you once I heard footsteps in the hallway. I figured out once I got here it was you, so I decided to stay here and keep Radarr company until you got back." Pausing for a moment as she looked up at me, Piper added, "Besides, I wanted to know why you were up walking around at 4:30 in the morning."

"Well," I began as I set my blades back down in their usual spot on my desk, "I thought I heard a skimmer's engine in the hangar bay, so I got up to check it out since usually no one's up now, you know?"

As Piper nodded in agreement, I proceeded in finishing my story. "Once I got there however, nothing seemed out of place, and I sure didn't see any extra or missing skimmers, so I figured everything was fine, but I still sort of feel uneasy about it all."

Stifling a yawn with the back of her hand, Piper offered, "I'm pretty tired at the moment, but I can help you make a thorough sweep of the hangar and ship tomorrow if you like." I began to smile as Piper added, "I don't like the thought of the possibility of an intruder being on the ship either you know."

Chuckling to myself, I asked, "Who would?"

Piper gave me a small, sleepy smile as she headed towards the door of my room. "See you in a couple of hours Aerrow."

As the door shut behind my friend, I glanced at my clock only to see that it was getting awfully close to five in the morning. Realizing that what Piper said was right – that I had two hours tops to sleep – I quickly climbed back into bed, careful not to disturb Radarr.

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**Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and more should be on the way soon! Expect at least one more update today! :D**

**_Crimson Fox4_**


	4. Chapter 4

**So we're on chapter 4 already! Woot! To be honest, I'm not all that sure how many chapters there will be in total, but hey! I'll know eventually! :P**

**This chapter is in Ravess' Point of View by the way.**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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Chapter 4

Having successfully infiltrated the _Condor_early in the morning on my second day of searching for it, I made sure to park my skimmer out of the way and behind a particularly large stack of crates in the hangar before I disguised it with a couple of invisi crystals as Master Cyclonis had suggested.

Checking my quiver of arrows again to make sure that the two love arrows were alright, I strung it and my bow on my back before I activated another invisi crystal and placed it in my pocket so that it would keep me out of the sight of the Storm Hawks until I had succeeded in my mission.

Stepping out from behind the wooden boxes, I walked towards the only other door in the hangar that obviously didn't lead to the landing strip. As I leaned against the wall next to the door to wait for someone to walk in so that I could sneak into the rest of the airship without it looking like a door was opening by itself, I surveyed the large cavernous room in front of me.

I snorted inwardly as I noticed several discarded tools on the floor, stray blasters leaning against the wall here and there, and of course the Storm Hawks' skyrides. _'Oh yeah,' _I thought amusedly to myself. _'A bunch of teenagers __**definitely **__live on this ship.'_

Thankfully I didn't have to wait too long for someone to come along. It was still early in the morning, but I heard footsteps slowly approaching the other side of the door. Listening intently, I heard them pause outside the door for a moment or two before with a swish, the door opened, and none other than the Sky Knight himself stepped into the hangar.

As I silently slipped out into the hallway, I thought disappointedly, _'It's too bad I couldn't have just hit him with one of the arrows there, but I've got to wait until him and that Piper girl are alone by themselves.'_

Tip-toeing down the hallway, I stopped in my tracks as I saw the door of a room a few doorways down open. Even though I was invisible, I instinctively hid behind a large pipe that ran from the floor up to the ceiling.

Peering out from behind my hiding place, I saw the only female member of the Storm Hawks slowly walk out of what I suspected was her room, yawning silently as she approached another doorway a bit closer to where I was.

The Piper girl knocked softly on the door in front of her, and it seemed she didn't get a reply as she knocked again. A confused look appeared on her face before she glanced apprehensively down the hallway before she pressed a button on the wall and hesitantly entered the room.

I waited behind the slowly rusting pipe for a few minutes to make sure Piper wasn't coming out anytime soon before I walked down the hallway and leaned against the wall opposite the door she had just entered. I stared at the door for probably close to five minutes, all the while wondering what she was doing up so early.

'_Even __**I'm**__ not usually up this early.'_

Just when I was about to leave and explore another section of the squadron's ship, I heard footsteps come around the corner of the end of the hallway where I had been only minutes before. Even though I was invisible, I knew my movements weren't muted, so I stayed as still as possible and instead of moving my head, I simply glanced in the direction of the footsteps out of the corner of my eye.

'_And the Sky Knight returns... I suppose he didn't find any intruders in the hangar, I suppose that's because I left as soon as he showed up.' _I thought to myself, my eyes following his movement until he was standing directly in front of me, and when he opened up the door of the room, I looked past him to see the navigator asleep on what I guessed to be his bed.

It seemed that the boy hadn't noticed she was there, as he simply turned on the light in his room before the door shut behind him. _'This would be a perfect chance to try and hit them both with the arrows. It's too bad that the door's closed though, if I tried to get in now they would once again be able to notice a door opening by itself – or at least that would be what they'd think. I'll wait until they're in a bigger room together that way I'll have more escape routes if needed as well.'_

As my thoughts finally faded, I heard their mumbled voices from behind the closed door before I heard light footsteps and the door opened, the light flooding into the hallway casting eerie shadows about the corridor.

The teenaged girl stepped out into the hall, calling back to her friend, "See you in a couple of hours Aerrow." As she retreated to the room I had seen her walk out of before, I thought amusedly, _'So they do get up at a normal hour then. I suppose my skimmer must've woken them up. Oh well, I now know where their rooms are, that could prove to be useful information later on.'_

Smiling to myself, I walked near silently down the halls as I explored the rest of the ship, trying to figure out the best place to ambush my two targets.

'_This is going to be all too easy.'_

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Well, what do you think? Will Ravess, a.k.a the Cyclonian Cupid get Aerrow and Piper in the morning?!?!?! I suppose you'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out! x3 Oh! And chapter five will be in Piper's Point of View if that tidbit of information interests anyone... :P

**Speaking of which, I have some homework to work on tomorrow, so I might only get one chapter posted up, we'll have to see how it goes. Also, thanks for all of the reviews, faves, and alerts everyone! :D**

**_Crimson Fox4_**

**PS. For those who have been following one of my other stories, APAH:AA, Chapter eight is now posted! :D Hopefully I'll have a snippet of chapter nine up soon, which reminds me, I also have a poll up on my profile! I know it's a tad random one compared to usual, but I hope you all vote anyways! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone! Sorry that today's update was so late, but hey! I'm still updating, aren't I? xD Anyways, as stated last chapter, this chapter is in Piper's Point of View. Enjoy whilst I go and type some more! :P**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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Chapter 5_

Yawning, I woke up and looked at my clock to see that it was about seven o'clock in the morning. On a normal day, I'd usually get up a little bit earlier to get a head start on my chores before all of the boys woke up, but I allowed myself to sleep in a little later today.

Stretching as I got out of bed, I grabbed my towel and had a quick shower before I got ready for the day. Leaving my room, I walked down the series of corridors that led to the _Condor's_ kitchen. Before I even got close however, I was able to identify the aroma of pancakes cooking as the smell wafted through the kitchen's open doors.

Peering inside, I was surprised to see everyone present and accounted for at the small kitchen table except for Stork who was probably piloting the ship. Stepping inside, I slipped silently into my usual spot next to Aerrow while Junko and Finn were pre-occupied with what to put into their 'top secret pancake recipe'.

Looking up from his plate of pancakes that seemed untouched, Aerrow gave me a smile and greeted, "Good morning Piper."

"Morning, Aerrow." I replied as I glanced guardedly at the food on Aerrow's plate before I added, "Is breakfast edible this morning?"

Smirking a little, he said, "I was about to try and find out when you showed up." As I nodded my head, he picked up his knife and fork once again and tried to cut the stack of pancakes on his plate, but unfortunately for him, he couldn't get either utensil to puncture the food.

I glanced at Aerrow with a raised eyebrow, and he simply shrugged in response before he tried stabbing the top pancake with his knife, but this only resulted in the knife being bent beyond imagination. As I tried to smother my giggles Aerrow simply stared in shock before he stood up and whispered, "I think I'm skipping breakfast today, how about you?"

Looking between Aerrow and the bent knife on his plate, I got up as well as I replied, "I'm thinking I'll skip out on breakfast too...."

As I trailed off, Aerrow just grinned as we began to make our way out of the kitchen, neither Finn nor Junko noticing us leaving. Only Radarr did as he quickly scampered after us, a couple of pancakes in his paw, and I couldn't help but think, _'Good luck eating those and keeping all of your teeth in one piece Radarr!'_

As we walked into the hallway, I quickly reached into the fruit basket by the door and grabbed a couple apples and a banana on my way out. Catching up with Aerrow, I tossed him one of the round, red fruits as I fell into step with his gait.

Grinning, Aerrow took a large bite out of the apple before he said, "Maybe we should make breakfast tomorrow. I mean, this is what, our third day in a row having fruit for breakfast?"

I shrugged my shoulders as I chewed the final bit of a bite of apple in my mouth before I replied, "Maybe. I'll see if I remember to wake up early or not."

Nodding his head in understanding, Aerrow and I walked in silence for a bit, the crunching sounds of our apples echoing a little in the hallways.

Remembering suddenly what I had promised Aerrow last night, or rather this morning, I asked, "When do you want to check out the hangar bay?"

We were both just about done eating our 'breakfast' when we stopped in front of the door that led into the training room. Radarr caught up with us, still hanging onto his pancakes. Quickly climbing up to Aerrow's shoulder, Radarr gave out a small whine as he read the training schedule for the day.

Looking at the schedule myself, I saw that like usual I would train first, but with Aerrow this morning, and then Finn and Junko would workout after us.

Aerrow looked at the schedule as well before he suggested, "How about we go search the hangar after we train?"

"Alright." I replied as I looked at the schedule again, noticing that Radarr was paired up with Junko and Finn, and I realized why Radarr had whined a little when he first read the piece of paper.

Patting his head, I told Radarr, "Don't worry; I'm sure you'll be fine training with them. You can always hang out here with us for awhile if you don't want to go back to the kitchen."

Radarr chirped in agreement before he leapt off of Aerrow's shoulders as soon as the door opened. We followed Radarr into the room just in time to see him whip one of the pancakes he had been holding earlier at one of the training manikins as if the food was a Frisbee.

Aerrow and I watched in surprise as it hit the dummy and lodged itself into its body that was filled with stuffing. We looked at each other in shock as the next one that Radarr threw nearly knocked the head off of another poor unsuspecting target.

"Whoa." Aerrow said before he gave a long low whistle. "Who would've thought Finn and Junko would ever create a weapon out of a pancake?"

I nodded my head, too shocked to reply before I shook away my surprise and turned to Radarr and said, "How about you sneak back into the kitchen and grab some more of those Radarr? I think I'd like to try that myself!"

Radarr gave me a thumbs up with his paw before starting to leave the room, but he paused as he passed me, his nose sniffing the air. Smiling to myself as I looked down at the banana I still held in my hand before I bent down and gave it to Radarr saying, "Here's some breakfast for you Radarr, I'm sure you must be hungry too."

Our furry blue friend's only reply was to give my leg a tight hug before he snatched the banana and ran out of the room. As the door began to close behind him, I could see him slide and turn to the right, headed in the direction of the kitchen.

Shaking my head, I turned around to face where Aerrow had been, only to see that he wasn't there anymore. My eyes carefully swept the room, but I didn't see anything until I saw a dummy which appeared to all of a sudden have red hair.

Smirking to myself, I made my way around the outside of the room slowly until I could see that it was indeed Aerrow hiding behind the human-looking punching bag. Glancing over at me, Aerrow grinned and gave me a quick wink once he saw that his hiding place had been discovered. He swiftly jumped up and after a few flips Aerrow was standing in a battle stance on the large square mat in the centre of the room.

Shaking my head, I walked out onto the mat, and standing across from him, I took my own stance, ready for our daily training to start when I out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of pink purple light before a pain in my stomach spread like fire.

As I doubled over in pain, I heard Aerrow cry, "Piper!" But I didn't hear or see much of anything else after that as black quickly flooded my vision until I was swallowed up by the waiting darkness.

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**Hee, hee, hee! Aren't I just evil? Well, I guess that's what I get for making Ravess 'cupid' in this story.... xP**

**Well, hopefully chapter six, told from Ravess' Point of View, will be up sometime tomorrow.**

**_Crismon Fox4_**


	6. Chapter 6

**Alright, here's chapter six everybody! Hopefully I'll be able to post up at least one more chapter today, we'll have to see. This is in Ravess' Point of View by the way.**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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Chapter 6

I had been exploring the _Condor_ for at least an hour when I came across a door with a piece of paper taped to it. My curiosity getting the better of me, I quickly stepped up next to the door and began to read what looked to me like a schedule of sorts. As I read it, I smirked to myself and thought, _'Perfect!'_

Glancing down the hallway one way and then the other, I pressed the button on the wall to open the door in front of me once I saw that no one was coming. As it opened, I stepped into the room and began to explore what I assumed to be a training room of sorts.

'_Now I just have to find a spot to hide where I'll have a good view point to shoot the two brats.' _Walking into the middle of the room where there was a large square mat on the ground, I remembered that I didn't really need to hide at all since the invisi crystal was still activated.

_I may as well find a place to sit anyways. I have a while to wait until Piper and Aerrow even get here and start their training after all.'_ I thought as I noticed a haphazardly stacked pile of smaller mats.

Smirking, I sat down on one of them and leaned my back against the others and kept my eyes on the door, waiting for my two targets to show up.

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After what felt like hours upon hours of sitting by myself, I glanced at a clock on the wall and groaned inwardly as I saw that it had only been about two hours since I first entered the room. _'At least that means that they should be here soon...'_

I waited as patiently as possible for awhile longer and finally I heard two sets of footsteps approaching the door to the training room. I heard a boy's and a girl's voice through the metal door, but because of the door I couldn't quite make out what they were talking about.

Soon the Sky Knight's pet bolted into the room, holding what appeared to be a couple pancakes. I think I shared in the surprise so evident on the other two Storm Hawks' faces when the furry blue creature whipped the two pancakes at a couple of unsuspecting training dummies.

Seeing the results of the pancakes on the stuffed dummies, I thought to myself, _'I never thought I'd see something like this. I sure hope that wasn't supposed to be their breakfast or anything.'_ It turns out it was as the girl soon gave the blue creature a banana she had, mentioning it was breakfast for him.

Amusingly enough, while the Piper girl was focused on the Sky Knight's co-pilot, the Sky Knight himself snuck away and hid behind one of the training dummies. I rolled my eyes at the boy's foolishness, and watched as Piper began to search the room for him.

After a minute or two, the boy leapt from his hiding place, having been found by his opponent, and after completing a few flips, he stood waiting on the large mat before me in a battle stance. The girl slowly walked onto the mat as well, and standing across from Aerrow, Piper took a battle stance that mirrored that of the Sky Knight's.

Not wasting anytime, I quickly and quietly took my bow from off of my back and plucked one of the love inducing arrows from my quiver before I took aim and upon letting go of the string, the arrow shot forward and had soon lodged itself in the girl's stomach. As she collapsed to the floor, I noted that as soon as the arrow had left the bow and the effect of the invisi crystal in my pocket it suddenly became visible.

As the Sky Knight called out Piper's name and rushed towards her as she slowly collapsed and passed out, I took aim once more and I again hit my intended target in the stomach.

Smiling to myself, I stood up slowly, and approached the pair to retrieve the arrow shafts as Master Cyclonis had told me to do. Finally reaching the two teenagers, I saw that Aerrow was still with it slightly, and he was clutching his stomach, his face twisted in pain, and I couldn't help but smirk to myself as he finally fell unconscious, sprawled out on the floor next to his soon to be not-so-secret admirer.

Picking up the two arrow shafts that now had no crystal arrowheads on their tips, I whispered mockingly just for the sake of it, "Happy Valentine's Day Storm Hawks."

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**Yes, I know, this was basically a re-cap of the last chapter, but hey, for the moment there may be a lot of flipping back and forth between different Point of Views for the same general event. Hopefully the overlapping chapters as far as the time line for this story go will be ending soon.**

**Alright, this isn't going to be a Cookie Challenge this time around or anything, but if you leave a review, let me know which Point of View you think the next chapter will be written in. Have fun guessing!**

**_Crimson Fox4_**


	7. Chapter 7

**Alright, sorry that I didn't get my promised second update up yesterday, real life decided to get in the way as it will tonight, so more than likely this will be today's only update.... we'll have to see about tomorrow though....**

**Anyways! For anyone who was wondering, this chapter starts out in Finn's Point of View for a change of pace, enjoy!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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Chapter 7

"I think we should add pepper!" Junko exclaimed as we continued to throw out ideas of what we should put in our pancake batter this time around.  
In reply to my friend's suggestion, I screwed up my face a little and pointed out, "But all of the pancakes _I've _ever had have always been sweet, wouldn't pepper ruin that?"

Junko merely shrugged his shoulders as he said, "We always put pepper on _top_of our pancakes back on terra Wallop, so why not put the pepper _inside_ the pancake to start with?"

I was about to reply, but stopped as I noticed that the chairs around kitchen table were now empty, the stack of pancakes we had generously given to Aerrow earlier seemingly untouched. "Hey," I began, turning to face Junko. "Where did Aerrow go? He didn't even eat his breakfast we made for him!"

Turning to look at the table, Junko stepped forward towards it as he said, "Yeah! He didn't! I wonder why?"

As Junko became thoughtful, I went to the fridge and pulled out the bottle of maple syrup as I said, "His loss, right Junko? Now we can have his pancakes!" Turning around, I stopped in my tracks as I saw that Radarr had popped up out of nowhere and was reaching towards the plate of food in front of him.

Seeing that I had caught him in the act, Radarr gave out a squawk of surprise before he grabbed the entire plate and bolted out of the kitchen and down the hallway as I began to follow him, maple syrup and all as I cried, "Come on Junko! We've got a breakfast-napper making a break for it!"

"Right behind you Finn!" My wallop friend cried as I heard his heavy footfalls following me down the hallway.

We chased Radarr down several corridors before he skidded to a stop, looked back at us, and with a terrified screech, he dove through the open door to his right. Making a sharp turn, I ran through the doorway only to stop dead in my tracks as Radarr had before me. Unfortunately for me, Junko wasn't able to stop in time and I ended up becoming sandwiched between him and the floor.

Laughing nervously as he got off of me, Junko mumbled, "Sorry" as he helped me up. Before he could apologize anymore however, we both turned towards where Radarr was standing, oddly still, as the plate of pancakes he had been carrying fell to the ground as it had slipped from his paws.

Peering beyond Radarr to see what he was looking at, all of my murderous thoughts towards him from only moments before vanished. I stuttered as I tried to find something to say, but I simply couldn't find the words. I did however find a way to make my legs move forward as I slowly, then quickly as I rushed towards my friends who were both lying down on the mat, nothing besides the rise and fall of their chests indicating they were alive.

Kneeling down next to Aerrow, I rolled him over, and after a quick inspection, I saw that nothing seemed wrong with him, he was simply knocked out. Not even calling his name or slapping him worked. Looking to my left, I saw that Junko was having about as much luck waking Piper up as I did waking Aerrow.

Running a hand through my spiky hair as I stood up, I told Junko, "I can't get Aerrow to wake up, how about you?"

"I don't know, I can try though." Junko replied, but as he stood up to move over to try and wake up our friend, the _Condor_ suddenly rocked back and forth violently as I heard the faded sounds of weapons fire coming form outside the ship.

As we fought to stay on our feet, Stork's urgent voice screamed through the speakers, "Guys, I need your help up here!" When we didn't reply right away, he screeched, "NOW!"

Uncovering my ears from the unpleasant sound, I yelled, "Alright Stork, we're coming! What's going on out there anyways?"

"A bunch of Cyclonians came out of nowhere! The Dark Ace and Ravess are leading them too!" Stork replied before adding, "Hurry please! I can only dodge for so long you know!" As if to prove his point, the _Condor_banked hard to the right, causing Junko, Radarr and I to go flying.

As we untangled ourselves from each other, I looked to the center of the room, and surprisingly enough, Aerrow and Piper had hardly moved at all whereas the rest of us had just been flung against the wall, how did _that_ work?

As another crystal blast hit the ship's haul, I said quickly, "Junko, take Piper and Aerrow to the infirmary, and then I think you ought to use one of the energy canons to start shooting some Talons out of the sky!"

As Junko nodded and began to lift Aerrow and Piper up as if they weighed nothing, I turned to Radarr and told him, "Follow Junko and stay with Aerrow and Piper until they wake up. Once they wake up, tell someone, alright?!"

As Radarr nodded, I ran out of the door and towards the hangar bay, wondering where in the Atmos that burst of leadership instincts and planning skills came from... it was really weird. Weirder yet was the fact that I was now headed towards the hangar and planned on flying out, by myself, into a sky filled with Cyclonian Talons.

Yep, I'd have to say I 'm going crazy.

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**Sorry to post and run, but I really have to get going!**

**Chapter eight will be up as soon as possible... just not today... hehe... sorry! *runs off***

**_Crimson Fox4_**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter eight everyone! Sorry that it took so long to update, it's just that I'm usually pretty busy during the week. The good news is that its the weekend and I now have my two chapter pillow back, so as soon as I finishing typing up a chapter, I'll post up the next one for you guys!**

**Anyways, this chapter is in Ravess' Point of View again.**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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Chapter 8

Upon leaving the training room and the two unconscious Storm Hawks behind, I quickly made my way towards the hangar bay. I made the odd wrong turn, but once I got there, I was glad to see that the main hangar doors were open. Quickly retrieving my ride and uncloaking it, I gunned the engine and tore down the runway and was soon flying away from the Condor.

Deactivating the invisi crystal in my pocket, I turned my radio back on and wasted no time trying to contact any Cyclonians in the immediate area. To my surprise, the Dark Ace was the one who answered my calls.

"Ravess? What are you doing here? I thought you were back in Cyclonia!" The Dark Ace's voice came from my skimmer's built in speaker for the radio.

"I was running a bit of recon for Master Cyclonis you could say, but that's beside the point! Come and meet me as soon as possible. I know where the Storm Hawks are, and I have a feeling this could be a very easily won battle." I said into the mouthpiece.

There was a short silence on the Dark Ace's end of the line before he replied, "Alright, but you best be right, I'm running my own 'recon' for Master Cyclonis as well you know."

Rolling my eyes, I told him, "Just hurry up already, you've got a window of opportunity for less than an hour now." Pausing for a moment, I added, "Oh, and bring along some Talons as well. We'll need a distraction after all."

"Don't start giving me orders now! But yes, a distraction could be useful. Dark Ace out." Shaking my head at the Dark Ace's attitude, it wasn't long until I saw about ten skimmers headed towards me, an eleventh skimmer that was the Dark Ace's was leading them.

'_This is where the fun really starts....' _I thought to myself as the Dark Ace and I ordered the Talons he had brought with him to commence in attacking the _Condor._

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Yes, I know it was short, but hopefully chapters nine and ten will make up for it as they're a bit longer than this one.

**For those who are curious, the next chapter is written in Stork's Point of View I believe. **

**Well, I best get back to typing!**

**_Crimson Fox4_**


	9. Chapter 9

**Alright, here's chapter nine for everyone. Unfortunately I didn't really get any time to type today, so if I post this chapter, I'll only have one other chapter after this as a back up to post if I don't get time to type tomorrow.... ah well! The last chapter was kind of short, so here's a new one to tide you over till I get more time to type ;)**

**This chapter is in Stork's Point of View for anyone who can't tell after the first few sentences. (Stork has a very... _unique_personality and thought process, non? x3)**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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Chapter 9

"I can only dodge for so long you know!" I cried into the speaker before I saw another blast coming towards me. Yanking on the controls, I caused the ship to dip sharply to my right. Thankfully that allowed me to miss the blast, but as I levelled out my precious _Condor_, another Talon fighter swooped in and shot the left front platoon.

"Why do I even fix the ship anymore?" I exclaimed in frustration. "It only ends up getting shot at again!" As I grumbled to myself, I muttered, "Oh, _that's right..._ I keep fixing it so we don't crash into the Wastelands and turn into a fiery heap of scrap metal!"

I began to hyperventilate a little, but it soon stopped as I heard someone racing down the hallway. _'Oh good! Someone must finally be coming to help!' _Of course no such thing was happening as the person just continued to run on by towards the hangar bay.

Suspecting that it was Aerrow who had just ran by, I called, "You could've at least sent Piper up here to help me find some cover!"

As another blast rocked the ship, I turned my attention back to the skies and dodging any stray blasts until I heard the door to the bridge open behind me. "Finally you're here Piper!" I exclaimed without looking back as I was a little bit too pre-occupied with steering. "Do you have any ideas how we can loose these guys?"

"Um, no Stork, sorry..." I heard a _very _un-Piper like voice say apologetically.

"Junko?" I asked, as I glanced back quickly at him only to see him headed towards one of the blasters. "Where's Piper? And why hasn't Aerrow started taking those Talons out of the skies? I've only seen Finn out there so far."

"Well..." Junko began hesitantly. "Finn and I are kind of the only ones that can help you right now...."

"WHAT!" I screeched in surprise, my grip loosening on the controls causing us to nosedive a bit before I regained my composure slightly and once again managed to return the _Condor_ to a safe height – well, as safe as it can get with Talons around that is.

While still trying to avoid the Cyclonians, I questioned the Wallop behind me, "Where are Piper and Aerrow? They should be helping right now!"

"They're in the infirmary with Radarr..." Junko trailed off before adding, "They're fine, don't worry, they're just kind un-concous. Un-consus? Er, um, they're knocked out!"

'_How can they be unconscious? They were only training, right? I doubt they hit each other that hard at the same time...'_ I thought to myself as I dodged yet more blaster fire. I was thankful though when I heard the familiar sound of Junko's large canon firing. At least that might begin help with the number of Talons I'd have to avoid.

'_Still, how in the Atmos did those two end up getting knocked out? And why did the Cyclonians choose now to attack...?' _

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**Just to let you know, after this chapter is when you can kind of see the crystals taking effect, it won't be anything huge to start, just subtile hints here and there, the odd movement, or word, you know how it goes ;)**

**Anyways! I'll try and post another chapter tomorrow, but no promises that I'll get any _typing _done tomorrow.....**

**_Crimson Fox4_**


	10. Chapter 10

**_APPARENTLY I ADDED AN OLD CAHPTER FROM APAH:AA INSTEAD OF THIS CHAPTER, SORRY EVERYONE! i MUST HAVE BEEN IN A RUSH OR SOMETHING!_**

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Sorry that it's been so long since I've updated this story! Unfortunately I had a lot of homework this week, and I haven't really gotten the opportunity to write much lately, but hey, I'm going away for the weekend, so here's a chapter so you don't all try to come and find me with a bunch of pitchforks ;)

**This chapter is in Piper's Point of View! :D that must mean she's awake.... ;P**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps. **

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_Chapter 10_

Moaning as I opened my eyes and a harsh bright light filled my vision, I blinked a few times before I was eventually able to see that I was in the infirmary. _'Why am I in here?' _I thought to myself as I sat up quickly, but immediately regretted it as the room began to spin._ 'Okay, bad idea!'_

I slowly lied back down, grateful when the dizziness finally began to go away. After a minute or two of lying down with my eyes closed, I heard a familiar voice say, "Don't worry, you won't be dizzy for much longer."

Opening my eyes and looking to my left, I saw that Aerrow was sitting on the small bed that was a few feet away from mine, his legs hanging over the edge, his feet almost touching the metallic floor. Seeing that my eyes were open, he smiled warmly as he asked, "How're you feeling?"

Giving him a small smile in reply, I said, "Okay I guess, I'm not really sure why I'm in here though."

Aerrow looked at me questioningly as I sat up slowly, the dizziness still not coming back. Looking across at Aerrow as I mirrored how he was sitting, I asked, "Do you know what happened?"

Shrugging his shoulders, he replied, "Well, I know that we were about to start training and then you kind of slipped to the floor and passed out, but before I could help you my stomach began to hurt like crazy and then the next thing I know I'm waking up here."

Nodding my head slowly, I told Aerrow, "I think I remember now… yeah! We were about to start training like you said, and I think I remember seeing a flash of pink purple light before my stomach began to hurt though...."

As I trailed off, trying to make sense of my fuzzy memories, Aerrow shrugged his shoulders and was about to reply when suddenly the _Condor _lurched forward causing me to fall off of the bed I was sitting on. But instead of falling to the floor like I thought I would, I ended up in Aerrow's lap as he had caught me around the waist and pulled me against him to help me avoid my meeting with the metal tiles on the floor.

Several questions ran through my head as I looked up at Aerrow, but he only grinned down at me, his jade eyes dancing. I blinked a few times as I looked up at him, and I thought that I saw a touch of pink in his eyes for some odd reason, but before I could figure out if I was dreaming or not, Aerrow turned his head towards the door that had just opened.

Looking towards the door as well, I saw Radarr standing there, an almost relieved looking smile on his face before he darted over to where we were and hugged Aerrow around the neck. As one of Aerrow's arms left my waist to reach up and pat Radarr on the head, I finally realized the awkward position Aerrow catching me had put us in. I gently slipped out of his grasp and stood up, grabbing the edge of the bed he was sitting on as the ship pitched again.

Glancing towards Aerrow as Radarr rushed out of the room and turned down the hallway that led towards the bridge, I asked, "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"No, but maybe we should find out." He replied as he quickly grabbed my wrist and dragged me out the door, following the same path that I figured Radarr must have taken moments earlier.

Once we had stepped onto the bridge, I felt Aerrow release his grip on my wrist, but he seemed almost disappointed to do so. I didn't have much time to think about it though as I saw Stork hit the radio button and speak into it asking, "Finn?"

"Yeah, Stork?" I heard Finn's voice crackle through the speakers on the bridge.

"Why is Radar pulling on my pants?"

"Dude, how would I know?" Was Finn's response before he added thoughtfully "I told Radarr to stick with Piper and Aerrow and to let someone know if they woke up..." trailing off, Finn suddenly exclaimed, "Aerrow and Piper must've come to! Now I can finally get some help out here!"

Even though Stork's back was facing where I stood next to Aerrow, I could almost picture him rolling his eyes as he informed the sharpshooter, "Finn, even if they are up, I doubt they'd be up and about walking let alone fighting, I mean, they were passed out!"

Looking at me from the corner of his eye, Aerrow smirked before he cleared his throat and called out, "Who says Stork? We're up and ready to help!"

Stork whirled around to face us, his mouth open in shock. It looked like he was trying to force himself to say something, but before he could, I asked, "Cyclonians, right?" Stork nodded his head up and down, still not quite being able to find any words to say.

Looking to my right, I saw that Junko was already manning one of the _Condor's _blasters, so I grabbed Aerrow's arm and began to lead him off of the bridge and towards the hangar bay as I called back to our ship's pilot, "Tell Finn that we'll be out soon to help him kick some Cyclonian tail!"

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**I know this chapter wasn't quite as long as some chapters in this story, but its still longer compared to some of the previous chapters, non? Anyways, I'll try to get typing and editing as soon as possible! **

**The next chapter is in Ravess' Point of View I do believe.**

**_Crimson Fox4_**


	11. Chapter 11

**Alright, first off I'd like to say sorry for the confusion from the last chapter, I sort of chose the wrong document from the list I guess and those of you who looked at it before Friday afternoon just _might _have noticed or had a feeling that you had read that particular chapter before, and guess what, you probably have! It turns out I somehow clicked on one of my old APAH:AA chapters instead of chapter 10 for this story.... don't worry though! It's all fixed now, so if you haven't read it already, check out chapter number ten! The real chapter number ten.... xD**

**Moving on! This chapter is in Ravess' Point of View for those who are interested in knowing ahead of time. (Savour this chapter.... the next one will be coming in a week or so, I'll explain why later)**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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Chapter 11_

Watching the Talons circle the _Condor_taking pot shots for awhile, I couldn't help but wonder when Aerrow and Piper would show up. I was guessing that it had been close to fifty minutes since I had shot them with the arrows Master Cyclonis had made, and I figured they'd be out fighting by now, or soon since the sedative in the small heart shaped crystals was only supposed to last in around an hour or so. Who was to say it hadn't worn off already?

"Why aren't we attacking with the Talons?" The Dark Ace asked from where his skimmer was hovering beside mine, obviously annoyed that he was only watching the battle and not joining in. He had a score to settle with this squadron like I and many other Cyclonians do after all.

Sighing in annoyance, I turned to him and said, "Part of recon is observation you know, so keep observing what's happening through those binoculars of yours and you can join the fight when Aerrow or Piper show up."

The Dark ace grunted as he lifted the binoculars to his eyes and peered through them towards the Storm Hawks' carrier. "I'll go when the Sky Knight brat shows up." Pausing, he concluded, "I don't really care about the girl."

"I don't particularly care about any of these kids," I began, looking through my own pair of binoculars before I added, "But part of my assignment was to observe what results from Master Cyclonis' 'experiment' of sorts."

"Such as…?"

"Oh, you'll just have to wait and see." I replied to the Dark Ace's question. I could see him sneer in annoyance from the corner of my eye, but I focused on watching for our quarry, and soon there was silence between us until the Dark Ace lowered his binoculars.

"I see the Sky Knight and the girl - they just joined the blond-headed kid in the air." The Dark Ace told me as he put his binoculars away, as did I. Gunning our engines, we went our separate ways, the Dark Ace went after Aerrow, and I went after the Piper girl.

As I got closer to the girl's heliscooter, I thought to myself, _'I know Master Cyclonis never told me to attack them or try to shoot Aerrow or Piper down, but hey, this way I'll be able to see if the crystal has taken effect yet. I'm sure that if it has, the Sky Knight will be over here to save his now precious girl from falling off of her skyride of all things. Even if he doesn't, she still has a parachute, does she not?'_

Smirking to myself as I silently made my way behind her heliscooter – the perfect blind spot to attack from - my eyes scanned the battlefield to check the status of the fight.

Out of the ten Talons that the Dark Ace had brought with him, only about three had been shot down, or their skimmers sent out of control, though I saw the Sky Knight attempt to shoot another one from the sky before the Dark Ace flew past him. Like Snipe to a club sandwich, the boy followed the bait and was soon atop the Dark Ace's switchblade, the two of them battling it out, hardly paying attention to anything else.

'_Everything is going according to plan...'_I thought as I knew that despite the Sky Knight's concentration, the girl's screams would alert Aerrow to her peril none the less. Keeping this in mind, I raised my bow and notched one of my normal arrows into its usual spot. Taking aim with squinted eyes, I pulled the arrow and string back in one fluid motion, then, looking down the shaft of my arrow I saw my target – the blades of Piper's heliscooter.

I couldn't help but smirk as I let go of the arrow and it shot forward in a blur - the red colour of the crystal the most prominent – and it hit its target after flying straight and true.

As the crystal-tipped arrow hit, the engine turning the blades sputtered before it completely died, bringing it's rider along with it as it plummeted towards a wooded terra below, and as suspected her scream filled the air in place of the hum of the now stopped blades.

"PIPER!" I heard a frantic cry from above me, causing me to smile a bit as I thought, _'Oh yeah, this is definitely one of my more enjoyable assignments yet.'_

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Oh yes, I _realize_ I've given you guys a cliff hanger of an ending and I _know _said I won't be updating for a week or so, but it can't be helped! Besides the abundance of homework lately, I also had to take up the last few days writing and editing a non-fan fiction related story, and now I'm going away again on another trip!

***takes a breath* But anyways, I just figured I'd let you all know that the next chapter is most definitely looking like it'll be the longest one yet (that's why it's taking a good amount of time to write), and it's in Aerrow's Point of View for anyone who is interested.**

**Well, I've got to get going, its getting kind of late. Let's hope I manage to upload the proper chapter tonight!**

_**Crimson Fox4**_


	12. Chapter 12

**This chapter is in Aerrow's Point of View :)**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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_Chapter 12_

Once we were in the hallway outside of the bridge and were headed towards the hangar bay, Piper let go of my arm and walked quickly and purposefully forward. I went to follow her, but I heard the bridge doors open again, and Radarr came running down the corridor towards me.

Kneeling down, I let Radarr jump onto my shoulders before I stood up again, but looking at where I saw Piper last, I noted that she was no longer there and that she was now out of sight.

Surprised that she had been walking so quickly, I began to run towards the hangar bay as I heard a door around the corner open and close, most likely it was caused by Piper walking into the hangar as I had heard Piper call, "Coming slow poke?"

Entering the hangar, I saw Piper was already over at her heliscooter, checking it over quickly to see if there was anything wrong with it. I shook my head at how I had only stopped for a few seconds and Piper was almost ready to fly.

Walking towards my skimmer, Radarr jumped off of my shoulder and into his cockpit, and once he had put on his goggles, he looked at me expectedly almost as if to echo Piper's earlier taunt of calling me a slowpoke.

Glaring at a very smug Radarr, I told him, "It's your fault that I'm apparently a slowpoke you know." Radarr just shrugged his shoulders in reply. Finding myself shaking my head again, I began a quick check of my skimmer to make sure Finn or whatever I had heard in the hangar early this morning hadn't tampered with my ride.

Satisfied that it hadn't been, I climbed on and revved my engine, checking over the gauges quickly. Turning around, I saw Piper on her heliscooter, and as she revved her engine as well, for some reason my thoughts went back to earlier in the infirmary room.

I simply just couldn't ignore the fact that instead of going to the bridge to check on our status, I had stayed and watched Piper until she got up. I mean, wasn't I supposed to keep the safety of my squadron as a whole in mind first instead of worrying about one single member? But – I don't know. I sort of just felt compelled to stay there with her, make sure that when she got up she was okay despite the fact the _Condor_ was obviously being pelted with energy blasts.

And it was exactly that – a blast that rocked the ship – that shook me out of my thoughts. Blinking a few times, I called out to Piper, "You ready?"

Grinning at me, Piper yelled back, "Let's do it!" With that being said, we both shot out of the hangar bay, down the runway and drove off of the edge, and transformed our rides from bike to flight mode.

Scanning the battlefield, I was soon able to locate Finn's skimmer, and I motioned to Piper to follow me. Finn must have spotted us coming, as he soon came towards us. As Finn pulled along side us, he told us that the Talons had started attacking a little bit after he, Junko and Radarr had found Piper and I unconscious in the training room. Radarr nodded his head, as if the verify Finn's report.

I could tell that Finn wanted to know what had happened to us, but since I myself wasn't totally sure, and there were currently Cyclonians swarming around the _Condor_, I quickly ordered, "Finn, Piper, let's split up and try and get rid of as many as we can, or at least distract them. Maybe after that we can figure out what's going on, okay?"

"_Sweet!_Let's go kick some Cyclonian tail!" Finn hooted as he turned his skimmer around and began to pursue one of the remaining Talons.

Looking over to Piper, our eyes locked, and after a few moments, I realized that we were just staring at each other, as if waiting for the other to say something. I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to say, or do, so to avoid the oddness of it all I just gave Piper a curt nod before I too like Finn turned my skimmer around and chased after a Talon that flew past.

After following the Cyclonian pilot for a bit, I jumped up and stood on the wing of my skimmer and let Radarr take over the controls. Steadying myself, I drew out my blades and activated them. With the blue light from the rare striker crystals illuminating my face, I prepared to fire at the unsuspecting Talon when another skimmer flew right in front of me.

As I saw the tips of the skimmer pass only inches from my face before it disappeared into the skies above, I caught sight of the man piloting the skimmer. _'Dark Ace!' _I thought to myself as Radarr went back to his usual seat once I got down off of the wing and began to fly the skimmer again – straight up.

'_What is he doing here? Leading the attack? Surely he can't be or else he would've shown up way before this and Finn's skimmer would more than likely cut in half by now.' _My train of thought was cut off though once I had levelled my skimmer out of its climb and the Dark Ace flew past me – again.

Changing direction once more, I chased after him and yet again gave the responsibility of driving the skimmer over to Radarr as I jumped upon the wings of my enemy's ride as my own flew past overhead.

The Dark Ace didn't seem the least bit surprised when I landed behind him, blades drawn and ready. In fact, as we began to battle on top of his skimmer, I couldn't help but feel like something was wrong or out of place with this whole battle in general. I mean, not only did the Dark Ace appear out of nowhere after letting all of the Talons attack the _Condor_ for probably more than half an hour, he hadn't said a word to me yet.

I think that was one of the big things that tipped me off to something about this whole battle having some ulterior motive, after all, the Dark Ace hadn't even threatened, yelled, at, or even gloated over me. Oh yeah, something was definitely wrong.

As I flipped away from another of his half-hearted attacks and landed on the wing on the port side of the Dark Ace's skimmer, I was feeling tempted to ask what was up. I didn't care if he gave me a proper answer or not, I just wanted to break this weird silence between us, it was beginning to freak me out a bit.

As I had just finished contemplating this course of action, the silence around us was broken, but not by myself or the Dark Ace. It was broken by the sound of a crystal explosion below us. Looking down, I gasped as I saw Piper's heliscooter's engine sputter a bit as the craft bobbed precariously before with one last wheezing cough, the engine completely died and the heliscooter - Piper and all – began to plummet towards the terra below.

Piper's surprised and scared scream echoed throughout the sky as I reached a hand downwards, almost as if I could stop her descent as I yelled, "PIPER!"

Without a thought, let alone a second thought, I dove off of my enemy's skimmer head first, the air screaming past my ears as I picked up speed as I continued to fall quicker and quicker.

Usually when I find myself plummeting towards a terra or the Wastelands, my first instinct is to simply release my battle glider and glide back to my skimmer, or anywhere else at least semi-safe, but I fought the urge, knowing that I at least had to be level with Piper's falling heliscooter to even have a chance at saving her, Since I knew that as soon as I opened up my glider wings, my descent would be a lot slower. Not necessarily stopped, but slower none the less.

As I continued to plummet, I suddenly noticed that Piper had stopped screaming. Looking towards her, I saw that her eyes were shut tightly, and she was bracing herself for the impact as though she had resigned herself to her fate.

'_You can't give up now Piper!' _I thought as I finally opened my battle glider's wings once I saw I was below her heliscooter. As my wings opened, the uplifting power of the air trapped beneath them immediately began to slow me down. By turning myself to the side and upwards, I was able to shoot forward and grab Piper in my arms and pull her from the seat of the falling vehicle she was riding, but just before we were clear of her heliscooter, one of the stopped blades tore a rip in the fabric of my glider.

As I was sent spiralling with Piper in my arms, I soon heard the not so far away sound of her ride crashing into the trees below. Knowing that I didn't have much time before we crashed as well, I gripped Piper tighter and held her against me, and one of my hands pressed her head towards my chest, hoping that such an action might keep her just a bit safer, and maybe avoid any further injuries that were sure to happen.

Like Piper had done before, I closed my eyes tight as the green of the trees rushed up at us before I cried into the wind screaming past my ears, "Hang on!"

The next sound to fill my ears was the explosive sound of branches that cracked and gave way underneath us as Piper and I fell towards the ground of the terra below.

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**Okay, the next chapter is really just a continuation of this one, so it will be in Aerrow's Point of View as well. **

**_Crimson Fox4_**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey everyone, here's another chapter for you! Sorry that it's been awhile, but this has to be the longest chapter yet, so I'm hoping it'll be worth the wait.**

**FYI - This story only has in around two or three chapters left. For those of you who didn't read my Christmas story, make sure to check out the important announcement I have at the bottom of my profile page. It pertains to this story, APAH:AA and pretty much everything else I do here on the site.**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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_Chapter 13_

Crashing through the branches of the trees, Piper and I continued to fall downwards. Just when I thought that we would fall forever, the branches suddenly stopped scraping against my face and mercilessly creating rips in my uniform as the feeling of the branches simply disappeared and another feeling began to wash over me – pain.

It turns out that my earlier speculation that we very well could fall forever had been quite wrong – the law of gravity had caused us to land on the very hard ground of the wooded terra.

I winced inwardly at the pain in my back from falling onto the ground – my back taking the impact – but I didn't think anything was broken, my back just really hurt. That and the fact that my lungs had had almost all of the air in them knocked out due to the fall.

I began taking several deep breaths, but somehow my breathing felt laboured, but when my lungs finally had enough air in them to be able to go back to breathing normally, I finally figured out why it seemed so hard to breathe.

My brain had suddenly realized that my arms were still wrapped around something and that heat from that something was permeating into my arms and torso. Also, once my breathing had slowed down, I felt the rise and fall of another person's chest against mine. That's when I finally realized that I had managed to keep Piper in my arms during the whole fall and that since I had been the one to take the impact, she wouldn't be hurt much besides scratches from the tree branches.

'_Thank goodness she's okay!' _I thought to myself as tightened my grip around Piper and kept my eyes closed so that I could just stay lying on the ground and rest until she woke me up, or until one of our squad-mates came to pick us up. _'Radarr will come and find us soon.' _

Just as I began to feel like I could drift off at any moment, I felt Piper's weight shift slightly before I felt something warm and slightly moist brush against the tip of my nose, then I felt something warm touch and rest upon my cheek.

My curiosity getting the better of me, I opened my eyes and the sunlight streaming through the hole in the tree canopy above stung my eyes for a moment, but then I looked up to see that Piper was awake as well – I hadn't been quite sure at first since she hadn't said anything to me after we fell.

As my sight became clearer, I noticed something strange. Not only was Piper's hand resting on my cheek, but she was looking at me with this odd expression I'd never seen her sport before. Stranger yet was the sensation that look sent to my stomach – it felt like I was doing loop the loops on my skimmer over and over again yet I was still lying on the ground.

I blinked a few times, trying to figure out what I should do since Piper wasn't really talking to me, just… staring. I ended up staring back, but that's when I noticed the strangest thing of all. Piper's eyes were not their usual rustic orange colour; they now had a ring of pink around the outside.

Surprised at this, I tried to sit up so that I could get up and back away from Piper a bit until I figured out what was going on, as in Piper doesn't have pink in her eyes! _'She surely can't be an impostor though.' _I thought to myself, but my thoughts stopped abruptly as my attempts to sit up had only made me realize how tangled up Piper's legs were in mine from the fall.

Unfortunately, I came to this conclusion too late, as my attempts to sit up had resulted in Piper and I rolling to the side, and when I opened my eyes which had somehow shut themselves, I was frozen in surprise, and it seemed that Piper was as well.

Us rolling over had caused me to be the one lying on top of Piper and not the other way around, and when I had opened my yes, I was sure that I was now closer to Piper's face than I had ever been before.

As I stared into Piper's surprised eyes, for some unexplainable reason I found myself thinking that the pink in them wasn't that bad of an addition to her eyes, it wasn't like it totally clashed with her normal eye colour or anything. I still wasn't really sure why they suddenly had pink in them, but I now thought it looked just fine, it didn't seem to stand out quite as much as it had before anyways.

While we continued to stare at each other – each still in shock about our predicament and not sure what to say – I kept catching myself glancing at her lips every now and again. I had to keep telling myself over and over that if just this morning I had told myself not to think of Piper as being cute since she was a team-mate, then surely I shouldn't be thinking of what I was now.

Still not quite sure what I was supposed to do to get myself out of this strange situation, I was almost relieved when I heard the sound of skimmers racing through the trees and underbrush nearby. However, my ears soon picked out that there were more than two of them, so I quickly managed to finally give Piper a mumbled apology as I struggled to get off of her.

Finally standing up, I felt the pain in my back come once again, but I only winced quietly before I gave Piper a weak smile as an added apology before I offered her my hand to help her up. As she reached out to take it, there was a sudden crash of tree branches breaking and snapping as two skimmers burst through the trees and bushes at the end of what appeared to be an old dirt path that Piper and I had landed on.

Piper's eyes widened once she saw the two skimmers headed our way, and glancing at my outstretched hand, she clasped it with hers and I quickly pulled her off the ground as the two skimmers zoomed past, one of the riders screeching, "Run for your lives!"

"Finn?" Piper and I both yelled out at our retreating squad-mate.

Turning around in the seat of his skimmer for a moment, Finn gave us a quick wave of acknowledgement before he disappeared into the forest again, Radarr following him on my skimmer.

Piper turned to look at me with a raised eyebrow, and was about to say something when I heard the third skimmer's engine again, and before I knew it a gold and red skimmer was heading straight for us.

Without time to spare, I yelled at Piper, "Look out!" before I dove at her and tackled her to the ground just as the skimmer raced past where we had been standing only a split second before.

My instincts told me to get up and get ready in case an attack was going to follow, so I did so and helped a shocked Piper up again. As Piper dusted herself off quickly, I looked down the old path to see that the third rider was preparing to come back, and as they turned, I saw the crest of Cyclonia on the folded up wings of the skimmer. That was also when I heard the maniacal laughter of none other than the Dark Ace.

He was soon facing us, his skimmer at a stand still, and his laughter soon faded as he sneered at us before revving his engine and racing back at us again. He was on top of us in no time causing Piper and I to yell at each other, "Dive!" Before we each dove to opposite sides as the Dark Ace rode past us again, but this time he braked as he passed, causing a large cloud of dust to fly up.

Coughing as I inhaled some of the airborne dirt, I tried to see through the cloud but couldn't. As I stood up slowly, my coughing lessened up a little as the dust began to settle, but I couldn't quite make out where Piper or the Dark Ace was yet.

I was uneasy that I couldn't hear anything, especially the sound of the Dark Ace's skimmer. It had disappeared which meant he had rode off - which was quite unlikely - so the only other explanation would be that he was still somewhere close, and I found my guess was correct as I felt the hairs on the back of my neck bristle when I saw a red glow in the shape of a sword appear as the dust cloud thinned out even more.

As I reached behind my back to grab my blades, I heard a low voice warn, "I wouldn't do that if I were you Aerrow." My hands froze as they touched the tips of the hilts of my blades as the Dark Aces strode forward with his sword ignited. This wouldn't have been a problem if he hadn't been dragging Piper with him, the glowing red weapon close to her throat.

My eyes widened in horror at the scene in front of me, and looking at Piper, I could see the fear in her eyes as she glanced between me and the sword dangerously near her throat.

My hands twitched on the handles of my own weapons, but the Dark Ace quickly moved his activated weapon even closer to my friend's throat as he said, "Ah, ah, ah! One more move like that Aerrow and your squadron might not have a navigator anymore if you aren't careful."

Still not sure what to do, I just left my hands where they were as I glared at the Dark Ace who had quite a smug look on his face as he taunted, "Come now Aerrow, be reasonable, surely you don't want the girl to die, now do you?"

I began to scowl at his comment before I hissed through my clenched teeth, "Let her go Dark Ace, she's not the one you want, I am."

Immediately opening his mouth to retort, whatever Piper's captor was going to say to me was cut off by the beeping noise coming from his radio on his skimmer that I now noticed was nearby. Eyeing me for a moment, the Dark Ace moved towards his skimmer as the beeping continued, but he kept Piper with him and his sword still hovering near her neck.

The Dark Ace never took his eyes off of me, and I in turn didn't take my eyes off of him or his glowing weapon, trying to make sure he didn't try to pull anything funny.

Upon reaching his skimmer, the Dark Ace pressed a button on his radio and listened to it for a moment until he scowled at it almost like he was mad at whoever had been on the other end before he turned to me and hissed, "Next time Storm Hawk, luck won't be on your side."

Throwing Piper roughly to the ground, the Dark Ace deactivated his weapon as he sheathed it before he jumped on his ride and rode off without another word.

I stared after my retreating enemy in shock until my mind finally started to work again and I glanced down at my friend who was still on the ground where the Dark Ace had thrown her.

"Piper..." I whispered as I ran towards her and slid to a stop by her, dropping to my knees. As I pulled her gently into my lap and gingerly brushed her bangs away from her closed eyes, I heard the sound of two skimmer engines closing in until I heard Finn yell, "Aerrow!"

Looking up, I saw Finn and Radarr jumping off of their parked rides before they ran over to where I was sitting with Piper in my lap who was still rather stunned. "Aerrow, I should've stopped and picked you up, I'm so sorry! When I realized that, we came back to grab you guys and the Dark Ace had Piper, so we didn't want to risk it or anything by barging in."

Looking down at Piper, Finn asked, "Piper? Hey Piper, are you okay?"

In response to Finn's calls, Piper shifted a little in my arms, and muttered, "Hey Finn."

I sighed quietly in relief before I said softly, "Piper, I – I'm really sorry. I'm never going to let the Dark Ace do something like that to you again – _ever._"

Piper nodded, but she still hadn't bothered to look at me. Not sure what was wrong with Piper, I motioned to Finn to help her up, and I soon stood up after her. What I wasn't ready for was Piper throwing herself at me and giving me a hug. I fought to keep my balance, but I quickly returned the hug and wasn't ready to let go of her anytime soon as I finally registered in my head that I had almost lost her.

However, I heard Finn coughing soon before he commented, "That's a little to much love guys."

"WHAT?!?!" Piper and I both cried as we separated and turned to Finn.

Finn opened his mouth and was about to give us a snide, teasing comeback when his jaw dropped and his eyes just darted back and forth between my face and Piper's. Glancing at Radarr, I noticed that he was looking at us with the same expression.

Not sure what was wrong with my two squad-mates, I asked perplexed, "What's the matter you guys?"

Finn finally managed to close his mouth before he questioned, "Dudes, why do you two have pink eyes all of a sudden?"

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**Hehe, what happens now, eh? Well, you'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out! xD It shouldn't be as long of a wait this time though.**

**Again, for those of you who haven't checked out the new announcement on my profile, please check it out! Thanks!**

**_Crimson Fox4_**


	14. Chapter 14

**Uh, yeah, I think you can all guess who's Point of View this is in.... :P**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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_Chapter 14_

It had been in around ten o'clock in the morning when Junko and I had seen Aerrow jump off of the Dark Ace's skimmer where he had been battling to go after Piper whose heliscooter had been shot down by Ravess.

Within a few minutes of this occurring, most of the Talons retreated for some reason unknown to me, but what disturbed me the most was that the Dark Ace was now chasing Finn and Radarr towards the terra below. Worst yet, we hadn't heard from Piper or Aerrow whether they were okay or not.

By ten thirty, Junko had asked me worriedly, "Hey, Stork? Do, do you think they're okay?"

I had looked up from the controls of the _Condor_and replied, "Well, I don't really know Junko, but hey! If they've met their doom, at least we get all of their stuff!" As I grinned to myself as I turned around to continue figuring out what needed to be fixed, I heard Junko begin to sniffle.

Knowing that I had probably just said the wrong thing to the kind-hearted Wallop, I turned around with a sigh and was about to try and be optimistic about things for once when I heard Finn's voice crackle over the radio.

Junko's large teary eyes suddenly looked less threateningly watery as he heard his friend's voice over the radio. Dashing over to where I was standing, Junko cried into the radio, "Finn, buddy! You're okay!"

"Of course Junko, no one is able to touch the Finnster!" I had simply rolled my eyes at Finn's remark until Junko began speaking to the sharpshooter again.

"So did you find Aerrow and Piper? Are they okay?"

There was a slight moment of silence before Finn replied, "Yeah, I guess so..."

Taking over Junko's spot near the radio, I asked, "Uh, what do you mean by 'I guess so', Finn? Aren't they okay?"

"Well, yeah, of course, but they're just acting kind of… weird…."

As the radio cut out while Finn trailed off, I looked out the window to see two familiar skimmers approaching. I quickly pulled the lever that would open the hangar bay door before I turned to Junko and said, "Come on, let's go see what's up."

That had been over twelve hours ago.

It was now early Wednesday morning – February the 11th – and I was still up searching through my books trying to figure out what could be wrong with Piper and Aerrow. There had been more than a couple things wrong with them when they came back in from fighting with the Cyclonians, and now I was just trying to match up their symptoms with some sort of sickness that I knew must exist.

Personally I think they must have been infected with mindworms, but of course I'll need to find some proof in these books before the others will believe me, although I don't think it's all that far fetched.

When Junko and I had reached the hangar bay after Finn had radioed us, Finn landed first and came to stand with us. But before we could ask him what was wrong with Aerrow and Piper, we began to clue in ourselves.

Aerrow, Piper, and Radarr all flew in on Aerrow's skimmer with him piloting, but that in itself wasn't strange since this sort of thing happened all the time if one our skimmers was destroyed we simply ended up catching a ride on someone else's.

No, what was strange about it was that even though the pilot's seat of Aerrow's skimmer was actually pretty large, Piper was scooted up right close to him and had wrapped her arms around his waist. It looked like she was hugging him the way she was almost snuggled into his back, and Aerrow didn't even seem bothered by it. I might even go so far as to say he was enjoying it.

As the blue and red skimmer came to a stop in front of us, Radarr jumped out of his seat and raced over to where Finn, Junko, and I were standing. I could see the confused look on Radarr's face that I'm sure came close to mirroring my own, but my confusion turned into disbelief as Aerrow got off of his skimmer, and turning around, he held his hand out to Piper to help her off even though no one really needs help to get off of a skimmer like Aerrow's.

'_Plus no one has ever needed to help Piper off of a skimmer before anyways.' _I had thought to myself as the strange scene before me continued to play out.

Piper almost bashfully took our Sky Knight's hand before she slid off of the vehicle. When the pair turned around and saw that we were standing there, staring at them, their hands that they had been holding in each other's immediately parted as Aerrow rubbed the back of his neck, and Piper's hand held onto her arm as she diverted her gaze to the floor.

Those had been some of the first weird things I noticed when those two had come back.

Once we had gathered together on the bridge a few minutes later, myself and the rest of the guys were ready to ask Aerrow and Piper how it had come about that they both fell unconscious during their training session this morning, but they simply wouldn't pay attention to us long enough. They kept whispering to each other, and Piper would keep giggling like some little school girl.

When I had finally lost my patience, I had yelled at the two to listen, and in response they had simply turned and stared at me. That's when I had noticed another weird oddity about the pair – their eyes had somehow turned pink. And I knew this had to be recent, as when the team had headed off to bed last night, those two _definitely_ hadn't had a trace of pink in their eyes.

I blinked blankly at the two before I dashed into my room, disinfecting myself immediately before I caught whatever those two suddenly had contracted.

Ever since, I've been in my room going through all of my books on mindworms and diseases. None of which so far had mentioned pink eyes as one of the indicators someone was infected. None the less though, I was going to figure out what was going on – someone had to after all.

'_Besides,' _I thought as I flipped another page of book number five hundred and eighty-eight, _'Aerrow's hair __**so**__ clashes with his new eye colour.'_ I was about to close the book and check the _Condor's_ status before I tried to sleep a little when something near the bottom of the page caught my eye.

Scanning the paragraph quickly, I murmured to myself, "Love sickness, eh?"

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**Hehe.. silly Stork.. xD I think you guys will like the next chapter. And as a heads up, I'm thinking there are about two chapters and the epilogue left to this story (This estimate is subject to change! x3)**

**_Crimson Fox4_**


	15. Chapter 15

**Okay, this chapter is in Finn's Point of View, enjoy!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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_Chapter 15_

"Finn… Finn!" I heard a voice float through my head before it hissed, "Wake up Finn!"

Bolting upright in my bed, I looked around my bedroom and let out a small scream when a cold hand touched my shoulder. Spinning around, I saw Stork looking at me wide eyed, standing on one leg, and on of his arms was stretched out towards me with a spray can of something in his hand at the ready.

As my heart stopped racing from my rude awakening, I looked at Stork before I asked, "Dude, what are you doing?"

Stork looked dubiously at the can in his hand before he threw it behind him and shrugged his shoulders as he said, "Sorry, natural reflex."

"A huh…."

As I trailed off, Stork asked suddenly, "You've noticed something strange going on with Aerrow and Piper, right?"

I wondered why in the Atmos Stork was asking me this at two in the morning, but I still replied, "Well, yeah, I've sort of never seen those two holding hands before, of course something has to be wrong!"

Stork nodded in agreement and said, "Yeah, that's sort of what I thought. But anyways, I need you to go wake Junko up quietly and then to go and wait for me on the bridge while I try and find Radarr."

"Why do you need to find Radarr?" I asked with a yawn, still debating whether I should get out of my bed to try and rouse Junko from his slumber. Waking up a snoring Wallop is no small task after all, so I decided to stall a little until I was slightly with it. Or until Stork decided whatever he needed to tell us could wait until morning after all.

"Well, he should know what's going on with his best friend, don't you think so?"

"You figured out what's wrong with Aerrow and Piper?"

"I think so."

"Well that changes everything!" I exclaimed as I got out of my bed and stepped on the cool metal floor of my room with my bare feet. Stork only looked at me with a raised eyebrow as I headed towards my door.

Before I pushed the button to the right of my door to open it, I informed Stork, "Oh, and if you're looking for Radarr, go down to the hangar bay. He should be there running the video projector for Aerrow and Piper."

"They're watching a _movie?_" stork asked, obviously not expecting that.

"Yeah, after supper we all decided to watch some movies, but Junko and I slipped out part way through the second one since Aerrow and Piper began to act weird again."

"Weird as in…?"

"Weird as in Piper was pretty much sitting in Aerrow's lap. They've probably fallen asleep watching the movie by now, but just in case, be quiet when you go in there to grab Radarr." I told Stork before I pressed the button on the wall to open my door before I walked down the hallway to try and wake Junko up.

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After maybe a good half an hour of trying to wake Junko up, I had finally succeeded in the job Stork gave me, and Junko and I were soon making our way to the bridge despite the darkness of the hallway. That being said however, we came pretty close to tripping over objects scattered in the hallway. I think once Junko and I almost managed to trip over ourselves.

But despite the hazards, we still made our way slowly to the bridge, as we both wanted to know what Stork thought was wrong with Aerrow and Piper. Yeah, I know Stork usually can go a little over board with his speeches about doom, disease, and especially mindworms, but even Junko and I had noticed something was wrong with Aerrow and Piper.

As we were passing through the hallway where Aerrow and Piper's rooms were, we heard hushed talking and giggling coming from around the corner. Knowing that it had to be the owners of the rooms we were passing by, I quickly motioned for Junko to hide.

Now since it isn't overly easy to hide a Wallop, Junko had to be creative with where he hid. Me? I was able to hide behind one of the large pipes that run throughout the ship to send crystal energy and steam to where it's needed, but Junko was too big to hide behind any of the pipes in the hallway.

I saw Junko look around frantically until he sat down in the shadows on one side of the hall and picked up one of the potted plants near him and set it on his lap, his ears just visible over the top of the bush.

'_Well,' _I began to think to myself, _'That works.'_

Just moments after Junko had, well, _sort of_hidden himself, Aerrow and Piper had walked around the corner of the hall nearest to where my Wallop friend was hiding. The pair was talking so quietly that I couldn't really hear what they were saying, but whatever their conversation was about it was sprinkled with Piper's giggling.

Soon they had passed by Junko without noticing him, and within a few short seconds they were standing outside Piper's room. The pipe that I was hiding behind was only a few feet away from where they were standing, so I could hear what they were saying perfectly.

"So, uh, thanks for watching those movies with me Piper."

I noticed Piper smile sweetly at Aerrow as she replied, "It was no problem, it was actually kind of nice once Junko and Finn left. No offence to them or anything, it was just quieter."

'_No offence? Puh! Yeah right!' _I thought to myself before Aerrow replied.

"Yeah, it was a little quieter, huh?"

"Yeah…" Piper trailed off as a slightly awkward moment passed before she stuttered, "Well, I uh, best be getting to bed, lots of stuff to do tomorrow you know...."

As Piper turned to go into her room, I heard Aerrow say quietly, "G'night then Piper." For a moment it looked like their conversation might be over as Aerrow was beginning to move slowly away towards his room when Piper did something that completely took me by surprise, and by the look on Aerrow's face, I figured it was a bit of a surprise to him too.

Piper had turned around and given Aerrow a peck on the cheek before she dashed inside her room, her door sliding shut behind her. I watched Aerrow stand there, as dumbfounded as I was until I saw him crack a small smile as his hand reached up and touched his cheek where Piper had kissed him. He grinned widely and walked towards his room a little further down the hall.

After Aerrow had entered his own room, I snuck quietly out of my hiding spot, grabbed Junko and his potted plant, and dashed towards the bridge, eager to know what we needed to do to help Aerrow and Piper feel better and get back to normal.

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**So yeah, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I tried to add in a little humour as you can often do when you get Finn, Junko and one of Stork's crazy ideas together ;) Chapter 16 is in the editing process, and the Epilogue is being written right now! :)**

_**Crimson Fox4**_


	16. Chapter 16

**This chapter is written in Junko's Point of View. Enjoy!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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_Chapter 16_

"What's with the plant?"

"That's all you can say after I told you what we saw!"

"Well, according to my book, that's one of the first signs Aerrow and Piper are infected with something called 'Love sickness'."

"Come on Stork, let's get real! How could they have gotten the disease and not us? I mean, we all live on the same ship!"

"I'm telling you Finn, it's not contagious – at least according to this book – and I don't know where they got it from!"

"If you don't know where it could've come from, what makes you so sure they have Love sickness?"

"_Because_ Finn, they have PINK eyes!"

"Guys, quiet down!" I told Finn who was glaring at Stork, and in turn, Stork was currently pointing towards one of his eyes as if to exaggerate his earlier mention of Aerrow and Piper's eyes having turned pink.

I myself was trying to understand, like Finn, how our two friends could've contracted such a disease, but I figured they must have it. I mean, they _had_ been acting pretty strangely yesterday, and this morning – even if it was only a few hours into the day. Right now though, I was searching for a way to get Finn and Stork to listen to each other.

"I thought we didn't want to wake Aerrow and Piper up."

Finn's shoulders slumped in defeat, and Stork gave out a small sigh as he replied, "That's right."

Radarr jumped onto my shoulder from the table and began to quietly chirp and growl a little, and even though I wasn't totally sure what he was trying to tell us, I guessed it probably had to do with my question, "So how does someone contract Love sickness anyways?"

"And is there a way to cure them?" Finn added.

Stork set his book on the table and began to flip the pages and scanned some of them for a few minutes until he said, "Well, depending on the way they were infected, there are several different remedies."

"Such as…?" Finn questioned as I joined him in looking over Stork's shoulders.

"Well," Stork began before pausing for a moment to read something from the book before he continued, "There are two main ways they could've gotten it. One way is through the injection of a liquid form of the disease into their bloodstream, or another just as common way would be if they had been blasted with a special crystal. It says here it'd be called a 'love crystal' and is – of course – a pink and purple sort of colour."

"Well, how do you cure it?" Finn insisted, Radarr chirring in agreement.

"Well, for the first one, you have to do a bit of blood work, inject an antidote into their bloodstream basically, and for the other, you just have to keep them apart and can't let them see each other for two days or until the pink in their eyes has disappeared."

"But how do we know which way they've been infected?" I asked, still a little bit confused about everything.

Glancing up at Finn, Radarr, and I, Stork said simply, "We ask them in the morning, and then we administer the proper cure and hope for the best."

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**Hehe... you gotta' love Finn and Stork... ;)**

**Epilogue is finished now, I just need to proofread it, and should be posted up sometime tomorrow for your reading convenience.**

**_Crimson Fox4_**


	17. Epilogue

**Well, here's the last chapter everyone! And I hope you've all been enjoying your Easter weekend. And I know there are some people who don't really celebrate Easter, but I still hope you've been enjoying your time off from school, or work, or whatever :)**

**This final chapter of this story will be told in Piper's Point of View. I'm glad that everyone has been enjoying this story so much!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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_Epilogue_

I breathed in the cool, crisp night air around me for what for felt like the first time in days, since really, I hadn't been outside at night since at least Tuesday, and it was now Saturday – Valentine's Day.

This whole past week had been rather crazy, and as Aerrow and I had found out from our friends Wednesday morning, we were apparently infected with some sort of disease. I couldn't help but laugh at that one, since as out of it as I was apparently, the part of me that knew there was no such thing as 'Love sickness' was still quite in tact.

When they had probed us further to try and figure out what had happened just before we both fell unconscious, that's when I suddenly remembered the flash of pink purple light I had caught out of the corner of my eye before my stomach had exploded in pain.

I had been sitting on the table with Aerrow's arm around my waist to keep me close to him when Stork had begun to explain about a crystal that could cause Love sickness. I had come to my senses for long enough however to realize that there _was_ a crystal in existence that was rumoured to have some of the same effects that Stork was listing from a large book he held in his arms.

I quickly slipped out of my spot next to Aerrow and walked over to where Stork was standing. The Merb had let out a startled sound when I took the book from him, but I simply ignored him as I quickly skimmed the page the book was open to, my eyes resting on a sketch of a pink and purple coloured crystal.

I continued to enjoy the fresh air around me as my thoughts slowly came back to the present. Aerrow and I hadn't been infected with Love sickness as the others had thought – after all, the sickness didn't exist – but instead, we had somehow been hit with two cupid crystals –which, by the way, weren't called 'love crystals' as Stork's book suggested.

Although cupid crystals were usually only mentioned in children's fairytales, it was obvious someone had had enough time to make the crystal a reality. I knew only of one person who had the skills and the available supplies to create such a crystal, so I could only assume that it had been a Cyclonian's skimmer Aerrow had heard in the hangar bay early Tuesday morning.

The intruder must have been using invisi crystals or something of the same nature as otherwise, I'm sure the trespasser would've been detected before they had carried out their Master's dirty work.

I knew that if Master Cyclonis was really behind this all, she would have obviously targeted me since she seemed to have it out for me, and for the fact that I was the only girl on the Condor after all, but I was almost glad she chose Aerrow as her other test subject. Not that I wanted Aerrow to be her test subject or anything, but, come on! I really wouldn't have wanted to act the way I had been acting with Aerrow with someone like Finn or Stork instead!

I shuddered a little at the thought, I mean, that would've been _so_ wrong in my point of view. Its not that I don't like the guys or anything, but they're my friends, I've never thought of them as anything more.

At least… not until now.

I sighed to myself as I glanced at the stars that were slowly appearing before my thoughts began to run away on me again.

Up until now, Aerrow's always been just a friend, but after this week, I – I don't know what to think anymore. Yes, I had been under the influence of a cupid crystal, but I don't know, it wasn't like the feelings I felt towards Aerrow felt wrong, at least – not as wrong as it would've seemed to me if one of the other guys had been hit with the other cupid crystal instead.

How did I know I wasn't under the effect of the cupid crystal now? Well, I just knew. After all, the others had kept Aerrow and I locked in our respective rooms ever since Wednesday morning and they weren't going to let us out until our eyes had turned from pink to their natural colour.

My eyes had lost all traces of pink in them Friday evening, but Stork wanted to keep Aerrow and I separate for an extra day or so seeing as he figured it would be 'better to be safe than sorry.'

One of the more embarrassing things that had happened while Aerrow and I were under the control of the crystal however was that kiss on the cheek I had given him. Even at the memory, my cheeks still burned with mortification.

Yes, I had been under the control of the crystal, but it was only in its beginning stages. I knew that the crystal's effects were supposed to last for at least a week, even up to a month depending on its potency. The thing is during the first few days you can still fight its effects if you so wished, but somehow neither Aerrow nor I had been capable of fighting. Or maybe, like me, Aerrow simply hadn't tried….

There were so many questions floating around in my mind thanks to the whole ordeal, and the night air just wasn't calming my swirling thoughts like it usually would. When I had been confined to my room for the past few days, I had found the fairytale from my childhood that I've had since I was a kid. It had actually been one of my favourites since even after the crystal's effects had worn off of the two main characters they had still 'lived happily after' in their 'once upon a time' world.

Even though Stork had declared Aerrow and I cured this afternoon and had let us both out of our rooms, I hadn't seen Aerrow at all today, that's why I was so surprised to hear his voice say from behind me, "Would you like some company?"

Turning around to see Aerrow looking down at me, I couldn't stop the blush rising on my cheeks at the way he was looking at me so concernedly, but I soon found my voice and replied quietly, "Sure."

After my redheaded Sky Knight had sat down, an awkward silence descended on us before I sighed and whispered, "Sorry."

Aerrow seemed to be a little surprised at my words as he replied, "Piper, what do you have to be sorry for?"

Not looking at him, I explained, "I'm sorry I didn't realize earlier that our actions and feelings were beginning to be controlled by those dumb cupid crystals."

Sighing quietly, Aerrow asked, "You don't really believe that, do you Piper? I mean, I've read the fairytale just like you have." When I still didn't reply, Aerrow murmured, "I – I think I'm the one at fault here, I mean, I couldn't keep my emotions in check."

"That's one of the effects of the crystal Aerrow." I told him, trying to assure him he hadn't done anything wrong, but what he said next really surprised me.

"After Stork let us out of our rooms, I went down to your crystal lab and found a book in there on mythical crystals. I sort of found a section on the cupid crystal, and it said that during the first few days the crystal takes effect on the person who was hit with it, the person should be able to disregard any sudden feelings towards someone around them, yet, I wasn't...."

As Aerrow trailed off and his words sunk in, I sighed and asked, "We're both guilty of that then?"

I could feel Aerrow's eyes on my down turned face for a moment before he questioned almost disbelievingly, "You - you're serious?"

I nodded my head hesitantly before I replied, "I didn't fight the sudden feelings either you know, I think I almost welcomed them..." As my words floated away into the night sky, I added, "I know we're both cured Aerrow, but, I almost feel like these new feelings... they stuck around to one degree or another."

Silence filled the air again, but just as I thought I had said too much, I felt one of Aerrow's strong arms wrap around my shoulders and a blush appear on my face again as my Sky Knight replied, "Maybe this, this feeling, was here all along, we just never knew." I nodded and looked up at the stars with Aerrow in a comfortable silence, wondering what Stork would have to say if he could see us now....

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**Yes, I know the last few chapters of this story have been a little rushed, and maybe not as detailed as you hoped, but I sort of need to focus in on my other story for the moment, so, sorry if this ending didn't seem satisfying or anything.... On that note, if anyone ever wanted to write a sequel or continuation of this story, send me a message with your ideas, and then maybe we can talk. If more than one author comes forward with ideas and such, well, I guess I'll figure out then how I'll choose, but anyways!**

**Thanks for sticking with me and this story, I know it sort of went on for a month longer than it should have....**

**_Crimson Fox4_**


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